Memoirs of a Newbie

[ShadowWizard]

Im not good with speeaches or emmoirs but here I go.

It all began on a cold winters night in a log cabin.... Oh wait wrong memoirs.

In the ten months I've been here lots has happened. What wonders this place has done for me, but where to start. Well I first came here to talk about the books because no one I know reads books, or much of anything for that matter. At first I didn't think I've changed but it was one of those slow changes that you have to look and think hard about to realize it's happened. I used to feel that being the only one I knew of who read and didn't act like everyone else did was strange, but coming here made me realize that there are other people out there that read books and liked them as much as I do but they were spread across the country and the world.

When I first joined I was quiet and just observed from the side. I was amazed how many relationships and bonds people had with each other and thought "Wow how long were these people here for all this to have taken place." I quickly found that if you just be yourself you can be just as close as some of them are.

Ah, friends. What wonderful people. The poeple here are as close as some of my best friends. Sometimes I feel that I can talk to people here easier then I would be able to with some other people. Friends may not always get along but theyre there for you like everyone here. There may have been arguments and fight in chat but they were resolved one way or another and things got patched up. Everyone has their owns quirks and personalities and that is what makes them great. Actually, this is more then just friends, it's like a family.

These paths ten months have felt much longer. The people have chanegd me in mor ways then I can count and all for the good. Good times and bad this places is great and so are the people.

Hunt's Luck all,
SW

[Mel]

Ok, I think I've been here long enough to contribute.

What has changed since I have become an un-newbie? Well, I think I've changed quite a bit. I've become more mature. I don't post obsessively, and I hope I've become less annoying. Though I'm not banking on that.
I've also become more guarded about what I say about other people or ideas or whatever, because now I realise that I'm don't share the ideas of everyone here. I've become a little more open, but I was already pretty open. I've realised that there is truly life beyond my own little town (ok, not so little town), and that there will be many people I will disagree with or love unbelievably after five minutes of talking to them. I learnt that age means nothing, so long as you've got a reasonable head on your shoulders, and that ... I'm not sure, I can't believe I've already typed all that. I've made a few friendships, which is prettry good because I'm usually a spaz, and I'm glad for all those who don't openly berate me. I've also learned a bit more patience, actually. Though whether my spelling has gotten better or worse, it's hard to tell. Maybe it's the keyboard.

I still listen much more than I talk (I know, but it's different online than at home, I'm not actually "talking" right now), but I have changed.

Ahh, well, anyway, I'd like to thank all of you who have been friendly, shared ideas, fought, debated, and made me stronger.

And I'm glad to have, and still share this experience for many years to come.

[tori]

Hi. I havent been on in a while.

For the 11 or 12 months i have been here so much has gone on in my life that wouldnt have if i had not joined. Oye, i mean, i would have never meet any of you. Or had any of those stupid drama fights. Or really interesting talks, debates, arguments.. That kinda goes under fights. But, after all those fights, i still come back when i have access to wifi and i meet new newbies. I probably still am one myself.
I came in today for the first time since about August 18, and i see a good friend i hadnt talked to since like May. I thought he had discarded this site, and hadnt got snagged in as Sean put it.
I have made many friends and probably a little bit ememies. I hate to say it but i can make people mad, which i am trying to forget how to do. For me, this place is my home away from home.

When i first logged on and went into chat Rad and Monkey where there to greet me. I remeber sitting in hot buggy internet cafe in the DR just as if it were yesterday. I was a bad newbie. Very annoying i would say. Although i dont want too.
I have so many memories of chat. When my mom came in and started flirting with Snuffles. Oh god. Dont let that happen again. My parents like this board. They dont know everything that happens on it, but thats for the better of their sanity.

On the topic of SANITY. I have some sanity left in me. In real life i have a lot. Here, i act insane at moments, other times i act more sane.
Being here, in YW. Living in Chat for about 5 months in the beginning of the year really changed me. I had a bad relationship. Learned that i cant act like a immature idiot and still be loved, and that this is like a community. Except, with all different sorts of people. Old, young, middle aged, and teenagers. And most of the people here have there groups and sometimes those groups pick on the newbies. Or they help them. I know that before i went out of Florida i got picked on by a group. They didnt mean wrong, i guess, but it was sad. Because, i do act immature at times. I deserved it most likely. But off that topic.
I learned to be open with people. To be able to read my mind. Instead of being inside my own little fantasy world off wishing for a life that isnt for me. I thought i would die if i didnt have internet every day. Now, i dont come on for weeks at a time. I have stopped my addiction. I have learned to make friends, and not to whine so much, or argue, because which ever side you are on, white or black, right or wrong, it doesnt make much difference in the end. Some do though. Like with being here. When my mom told me about the forum, i was like "They are all probably weird homeshcooled deformed kids with no lifes" but then i thought again and said to myself , i probably am one of them anyways..

And after being in YW for about 1 month i realized that all the people here are like family to one another. We have drama and fights. Different thoughts on religion, relationships, guys, girls. Just as you would in a family.

I would like to hope that more of the next generation come here, and see that weird phoney sounding websites are really the best. No offense to DD but when i say "Ya, im on YW" people look at me with a weird look of "Oh god, she is one of those weird fantasy obsessed people who live in a fantasy world and dont know real life from dreams" and i think back to myself. Yeah, i am one of those people, but i know the difference from real and fantasy. Although sometimes i wish my fantasies where real and that money did grow on trees. And that all the wars in the Middle East were gone and that sailboats could sail at like 40 mph instead of 7-10!

Grpyh, lmao. That "God is spamming my forum" totally escaped my mind. That was a great laugh.
There was when people asked where Puerto Rico was. (Snicker snicker)
There are so many its hard to type them all out and they are precious.
When people ask me what im doing with all those keys and typing so hard on them, i say " Oh im talking to my friends in Chat" and they look at me and then talk to my mom saying "You know that your daughter may be talking to weird 45 year old guys!" and i say "There is one, and he is really cool!" and my Mum has to explain its a book chat and the people still dont get it.
When friends ask me why im on a "Book Site" and why it says Wizardry everywhere, i just grin and say "Its my home away from home."

When i logged in today and saw this topic on the top, i was like, Omg, this is cool. I wasnt sure if was going to post here for reasons that i choose to keep to myself. Sometimes when im in chat i get the feeling im not wanted.
Thats the thing with chat.

I believe that it has made me stronger in some things, but weaker in others. Say, when i meet the group im hanging out with now, i was just all "Hi, Im Tori!" and now, after being with them for so long, i think that if they are where we were meeting at the right time,and they arent there, i think they are ditching me, or dont want to be around me. Although, when im hanging out with the other boaters and they are younger than me, its like, whoa, they are like puppies following me. Its somewhat scary, but sometimes i think, "Is that what my group thinks of me as? Just a annoying little puupy?" So chat has deffinatly changed me. I went through points when i was just totally hating chat and getting pissed off every night, but i would still logg back on the next night. Its hard to explain, and some of you may get it, some may not.

Chat has changed me. In ways undescribeable. However you spell that word. Oh and it has helped my spelling tremendously. Im sure most of you remember my bad spelling and my stupid " u r so weRid" i couldnt even spell weird, i was that bad.
From ages just turned 12, to now, 8 months away from turning 14, i have matured and grown.

On the topic of age. I did a pretty stupid thing when i first signed up. I said i was 14 instead of 12. Ha. Im sure some of you remember that as well. I would like to thank Dee, who i had just meet the day i confessed my true age, for helping read my sorry letter and telling me to take out all the stupid drama parts of "Im crying while writing this" because i really wasnt, i liked being 14. Although, it was quite hard. And now im like, if i hadnt confessed sooner than later, i wouldnt be here because i dont think i would be able to accept how stupid i was when i made that lie.

Like SW think, Im not very good at these memoir things.

As for TOGR, oh my. I didnt read all of it, but i read most of it. From like page, 284 and up. My eyes where blood shot for two days, but i learned about the oldies and the really way too short one liners. I think i did a couple one liners and got yelled at. I read back on my older posts and im whining about having to live on the boat, wailing and ranting on about my parents hating me and taking me away from my friends for the fun of it. And now when i went back to Florida, i saw that if i went back, my group of friends wouldnt be together, they broke up when i left, we are all different. They are all real preppy and rich. And i dont want to be like that again. I want to be a weird insane YWer. And a bit addictive to posting in TOGR when i have something to rant or talk about.
And Snuffles "Im really a girl". Which didnt really go over well. But was funny. Cause i kinda forgot it was AFD.(April Fools Day).

And now i have to go help my mum get the gorceries from the marina and there are too many for just my mom to go.

Thank you for changing my life.
Tori

[seabiscuit1009]

Wow...I'm busy for a while, and something like this pops up...first of all, this is an awesome topic...now to truly begin...

I joined this site at the end of my freshman year of high school. It's now the beginning of my junior year, and I can't believe how much I've changed since then. Not all the changes are because of this site (a lot have to do with nerd camp this summer) but a significant amount are because of these boards. I'm more trusting of people, and I've come out of my shell a lot more than I ever thought possible. When I first went in chat, I used to sit there for an hour or 2 without saying anything, just because I was too afraid of what people I couldn't see and that I didn't know would say. I'm still fairly quiet in chat when I get there, but at least I can talk and say something that makes sense.

Nerd camp. That changed me a lot. I'm better able to meet new people because of camp-especially boys. I had my first "boyfriend" there (don't think I told you guys that in TOGR) and he was just amazing-such a sweet guy, but it was just sort of a summer camp romance, since he's refusing to talk to me now. Even still, I learned a lot about people because of him. Wish I could thank him for that. I understand a lot of you guys better because of him.

Being a newbie here was interesting-everyone seemed so close knit, and so just...I can't think of the word. Either way, everyone was so nice and open to me as a newbie, especially Gryphon, which I suppose I've never really thanked her for, but I should. Thanks Gryph!

All the newbies who just come and go...why have I stuck around here? I wish I knew. I don't really have that many close friends on the site (no offense guys-I'm just not around enough to do that sort of thing with people online.) I guess I just love the feeling that a lot of you are just like me-bookish, a bit quiet at times but loud with people you trust, a bit nerdy (yes, most of us are nerds! hehe) That's why. I miss how I used to be able to hang around here every day, but now I'm just too busy to, which is too bad, since I haven't really talked with some of you guys in a few months. This is really a great site-everyone understands eachother in ways that people you know face to face just don't get.

And this concludes another confusing post-basically I'm saying that I stick around and come back every once in awhile to see how you're all doing, and though I don't have time to discuss life with everyone in chat anymore, I wish I could. I really do wish everyone the best of luck in life, since you guys deserve it. ANd this post is now even more confusing-oh well.

[Angel_Star]

Ah, the lovely forums of YW, where the so-called "real world" can be ranted about and our lives spilled out for all to see.

When I first came here, I was rather quiet. I was more of a lurker than anything else. Rarely did I venture out to make more than a small comment of little value. My opinions and my insanity were locked inside, fearing rejection. Until, of course, I realized that even if I might anger a few people (which I have done, unfortunately), you all are the most understanding and absolutely wonderful bunch of people ever.

I find it incredibly amusing when you call come up in conversation with my friends..."Oh, I was talking to Gryph the other night..." *odd looks* Friends say, "Who???"

There's really not much else to say. All I know is that I'll stick around. I might vanish from time to time, but I know where I can always come and be tacklehugged and get called "Angel Brains".

[Gigo]

[Gryphon]

Awwww, I love you guys so much. *huggles* You guys are some really neat people, and I'm really thankful that I had a chance to meet some of you. Lemme show you something that AgentM and I did a long time ago, when we were newbier.

She posted this on her LJ (Year 2004, if you were wondering):

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. How have I affected you?
5. What do you think of me?
6. What's the fondest memory you have of me?
7. How long do you think we will be friends?
8. Do you love me?
9. Do you have a crush on me?
10. Would you kiss me?
11. Would you hug me?
12. Physically, what stands out?
13. Emotionally, what stands out?
14. Do you wish I was cooler?
15. On a scale of 1-10, how hot am I?
16. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
17. Am I lovable?
18. How long have you known me?
19. Describe me in one word.
20. What was your first impression?
21. Do you still think that way about me now?
22. What do you think my weakness is?
23. Do you think I'll get married?
24. What makes me happy?
25. What makes me sad?
26. What reminds you of me?
27. If you could give me anything what would it be?
28. How well do you know me?
29. When's the last time you saw me?
30. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
31. Do you think I could kill someone?
32. Are you going to put this on your LiveJournal and see what I say about you?

I replied:
1. Who are you?
Gryph! The excitable cat who isn't really a cat and doesn't exactly like being called a cat.
2. Are we friends?
Yeah!!!
3. When and how did we meet?
WA first, I think.
4. How have I affected you?
*huggles* My first best friend over the internet
5. What do you think of me?
You're nice & silly
6. What's the fondest memory you have of me?
Ooo, that's tough.
7. How long do you think we will be friends?
As if anyone knows. I don't loose friends a lot
8. Do you love me?
*huggles* As a friend, yeah
9. Do you have a crush on me?
No
10. Would you kiss me?
Nnnnnooooo
11. Would you hug me?
*huggles!*
12. Physically, what stands out?
I guess I'd have to know you from real life
13. Emotionally, what stands out?
You're a nice person
14. Do you wish I was cooler?
Nnnooo... as if I care if anyone's cool or not. They're fine how they are.
15. On a scale of 1-10, how hot am I?
Ummm
16. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
AgentM! It's yours, it fits, and it sticks
17. Am I lovable?
Yeah!
18. How long have you known me?
Since October or November of 2003?
19. Describe me in one word.
Bouncy? I dunno. Hey, that sounds really wrong actually...
20. What was your first impression?
Ooo, I dunno.
21. Do you still think that way about me now?
I dunno. Umm... no? Cuz I guess I have an opinion about you now... which I didn't before. It's kinda hard to get a first impression when the first I see of you is roleplaying.
22. What do you think my weakness is?
Weakness? I don't really see weaknesses in people. Unless they're a pain, they know it, and won't quit it (I mean like someone who seriously shoves people into the ground). Which isn't how I see you.
23. Do you think I'll get married?
I dunno about you. I dunno about me.
24. What makes me happy?
No timers of doom!
25. What makes me sad?
When Lissa thinks no one likes her.
26. What reminds you of me?
Heh. The Day After Tomorrow. Also anything Agent or M-ish.
27. If you could give me anything what would it be?
No, I'm keeping my sugar! :P
28. How well do you know me?
Ummm... I don't know actually. I feel like I do know you, but I don't know you from real life.
29. When's the last time you saw me?
Never
30. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
Yes, actually. And I still can't.
31. Do you think I could kill someone?
No! I could never see you hurting anyone.
32. Are you going to put this on your LiveJournal and see what I say about you?
I don't have a LJ. Maybe some other way?


M replied:

1. Who are you?
Agent M, Meg, AgentMsan.. I have many names
2. Are we friends?
Yes!!!
3. When and how did we meet?
um... I think ur right, WA
4. How have I affected you?
Hmmm... you and a lot of other people I know make me want to try harder in school
5. What do you think of me?
Lesse.... Ur fun to talk to, ur really funny, especially when ur not trying to. And ur a caring person. Especially with animals

6. What's the fondest memory you have of me?
Uh..... remember how I don't have a very detailed memory? ......
7. How long do you think we will be friends?
*sniffle* I hope for a long time *huggles*
8. Do you love me?
*dnq*
9. Do you have a crush on me?
no...
10. Would you kiss me?
Probly not.....
11. Would you hug me?
Yep. *hugs*
12. Physically, what stands out?
I don't know
13. Emotionally, what stands out?
Um.... ur caring, and also u can have mood swings like last nite..
14. Do you wish I was cooler?
NO WAY!!!!!
15. On a scale of 1-10, how hot am I?
I dunno, how much?
16. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
Gryph simply cuz that's what I call u sometimes...
17. Am I lovable?
Ur Gryphon the lovable kitty cat!!
18. How long have you known me?
Uh....... what u said
19. Describe me in one word.
ONE WORD!?!?!?!?
20. What was your first impression?
That little thing called details is coming up again......
21. Do you still think that way about me now?
Probly not..... I know u better now
22. What do you think my weakness is?
Weakness? What weakness?
23. Do you think I'll get married?
Only if u want to
24. What makes me happy?
Sugar..... Sugar..... more sugar....
25. What makes me sad?
U don't get too sad a lot.... only when ur kitties are upset or hurt or when Lissa is being mean.
26. What reminds you of me?
hyper cats and the book Crusader
27. If you could give me anything what would it be?
My neighbors snickerdoodles. I'm tellin' ya, they're the best!
28. How well do you know me?
I'd say pretty well
29. When's the last time you saw me?
Never ever
30. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
*thinks* yep. But I haven't even told my offline friends
31. Do you think I could kill someone?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
32. Are you going to put this on your LiveJournal and see what I say about you?
No it's already there.



Maybe you could fill this or something like this out to send to a member who means something to you. They're nice things to look at years later. <3

[Gibby Gibson]

Young Wizards #1: So You Want to be a WizardYoung Wizards #2: Deep Wizardry

[Not So Silent One]

Well, now that I've had time to settle in I guess I can post here. I've sort of become a regular in chat and am trying to on the forums. And One thing I've noticed is how friendly everyone is.
I don't have friends outside of my computer, mainly because I am so used to being teased and made fun of I kind of just expect it. Here, I can be myself, just crazy me. And no one is too critical of you. (yes unless you make a reeeallly bad typo like I have done)
My first time I saw chat I was really outgoing, mainly as I wasn't me. I was actually typing over a friend of mine's shoulder when she was on it. (I was a member, but she was logged in)
Later I went on, and I meet Tiamat, I aquired the nickname NASA as my abbrev., NSSO looks like it. So now thats what everyone knows me as.
I also found that the people here, you can talk to them about anything, I mean anything. Your dog dying or anything. Did I say anything? And they get to know you. People at school, they look at you, at that one second they look at you they sum you up to god-knows-what. But they take their time to get to know you. I really love that about them.
See, personally I don't believe in friends, I believe in aquiantances, people you talk to, but don't completely trust, or hang on to, maybe say hi to them on the street or whatever. But I were to meet anyone from here, you never will let them go, I mean never. They are true friends.
Another reason why I don't like 'friends' is that they backstabb you, every time in my case, but these guys won't. They understand, maybe have been having the same problems as you have.

The main reason though, when I'm in chat, I have the most fun I have ever had. Pure and simple. Thats what chat and these forums sum up to be for me, understanding, friendship, help, and just plain funfun! We really all A family, and I wish I could meet you all in real life! It would be one of the greatest days in my life!


I love you guys!

--nasa/Ashley

[Tuttle]

Recently my parents have been getting tired of my life online taking over my supposed real life, and between that and finding this after Kathy's mentioning she can open threads I really needed to sit down and think.

I remember looking back,to being a little kid who most of the school hated, the one who was teased to the point of not being allowed to play a game with the rest of the class,the one who was happy to get along with two people out of 20 enough to not be teased by them. I remember needing to walk up to my teacher and tell him that when I took my lunchbox out of my backpack I found a dead bloody mouse in my backpack, and I remember only one thing of what I got for christmas that year. This was my 4th grade; counting back I was 9 years old that christmas, so it was half a life ago, and still I remember one thing. I was one of those kids who lived through books and when asked what I wanted for Christmas I would reply the same thing every year "Books and Surprises". Well I can guarentee I got one of those. The only present I remember these 9 years later was getting the first four books of the Young Wizards series, all that was out at the time. My parents had seen them and thought they would be something I would enjoy so bought all four on the spot. I read them, loved them, and would reread them for years. A few years later I saw A Wizards Dilemma in the library, recognized it, and grabbed it, having not known that they were being written. This was the start of my obsession with the books and pre-ordering the books online.

So 9th grade came and I got a laptop, and at that point I truly discovered the internet as somewhere to spend time as well as somewhere to play games and do research. That was the first time I saw the social aspect. I went through a few Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter forums, mostly the former, but was never fully hooked. At one point I was the top poster at a Lord of the Rings forum, but when I left to take a break, nothing pulled me back, but it had done one thing and that was show me I was not alone. I was happy, not a depressed little girl through my life, but there were other weirdos out there who would like a social life from behind a computer screen.

Through high school I was dealing with people working with me trying to diagnose me with being beyond shy to the point I couldn't function sometimes. I was diagnosed and undiagnosed twice each with aspergers and was just tired of everything. One day in 2005 I was rereading A Wizard Alone and it clicked, this was the series I wanted to spend time with people online over. It was a small enough fandom that it was annoying to find others in real life, but big enough that there were others (My best friend being one) and not popularized through movies in such a way that they took over the fans of the books and made me feel in a minority. I googled "Young Wizards", found the site, and joined immediately.

And now I get to what really matters, not me as a socio-invalid or how my life influenced me to find this site, but why I stayed and what is different. How this site influenced my life. Why if someone looks at my buddy list there is a large section of "People from Online" and the first category under that as "YW" and those be the people I talked to most. I can't truly say that anymore with that whole grown up enough to end up having a boyfriend, but I now have a catagory "Talk to these people most" and all but three are from this site. Beyond that there is the boyfriend, his ex, and a friend from FIRST, the other major influence in my life, as you all know. This site is special.

I had not been a chat person before here, so when I joined I wandered around reading forums for a bit and then saw there was a chat, looking and seeing that there was 10 people in there, it seemed worth wandering in, so I wandered in to chime and it clicked, this was somewhere worth being.

The memories I've made here, the friends I've had. How many people can truly say that they have friends who they would trust with details of their life around the world? It is an amazing thing. But we're not only friends, we are a family here, the family of regulars who can say they truthfully cried when we lost a member. Because that's how much people can mean, you can fight and can make up, can flirt and can get annoyed at the teenage drama which is around us, but we are a family and without each other will miss a portion of our lives.

To begin with the memories. I remember the first time coming into chat talking to Rad and becoming close to her immediately. I remember when Clone came and started flirting with me (which I didn't know at the time) and we would sing Mr. Roboto back in forth in chat. I remember chain stories and letting a silly Kiwi cat sit on the shell of the turtle of me who lives in chat while being heads over tail for a Monkey who was on the other side of the world. I remember watching relationships coming and remaining and breaking as would anywhere where teenagers would be. I remember ranting to the point I was sure everyone around me was annoyed of talk of robots. I remember writing enough in TOGR that people were like...maybe Gibby needs to change his 'needs to be as long as either mine or Gryph's posts' when I wrote over 6000 words on robots. I remember skype being something which allowed me to talk to people who I cared about without dealing with my fear of phones. I remember talk of IRC when we all were annoyed over chime then cedric's disobedience. I remember joining IRC and becoming a regular in multiple channels because of one person from this site. I remember, and will not forget, the tragedy which befell us when we lost a moderator to kidney failure.

And I can truly say each one of you has helped me grow. Helped me grow more than I realized at the time. I can truthfully say that it was people here who helped me grow part of me which is part of why I have a boyfriend who I am completely in love with now. They made me investigate part of myself which once I did became part of me enough that bonding so strongly was no longer impossible. I can truthfully say that panic attacks were broken by asking people who understood what I was going through and talking to someone from here when there was nobody else for me to turn to. I can truthfully say that when I needed to talk there was always someone here for me. I can truthfully say that people flirting made me understand teenagers like I had never before. I can truthfully say I've seen myself grow socially in understanding of myself and people to degrees I've not seen elseware online. And online is part of my life and will remain so. I am one of those who function with a laptop and am at home behind a computer screen, and you guys are part of that reasoning.

So I had to go away for college, and that is when this thread came up. I had to go and not be as active here because of the other parts of my life. And that is when it became noticable how special this place is, for as soon as I was free this place was calling me back home and I returned. Nowhere else has called so strongly, no other forum did it feel so wrong to be away from, and _that_ is part of what makes here such a special place. You are called back, you're stuck snagged unable to loose the part of yourself which remains here. It makes you grow, it makes you stay, and it makes you love a place you can call home.

Thank you, for making me grow, for making me happy, and for making me truly feel at home, these past 21 and a half months have been a time I will always remember, and it feels much longer than that. I hope I have made half of the influence others have had on me, and not just people thinking I'm insane for a variety of reasons (hey it seems right to reply to this with over a full screen of text in vim...really).


-Tuttle the robot obsessed turtle

[W.I.T.]

I've never seen any other community act as we do. We argue, we bicker, we laugh, we share, and we love. It's like we're some kind of family. I wish I could've seen sooner and maybe I would've learned a lot faster. Maybe I wouldn't have been so hard headed or rude to those who tried to help me, and now that I look back I'm surprised those that did try to help me continued to. I was stupid. And yet you all continued to be patient with me and teach me, and it finally got through my thick skull. When you all corrected my spellings and grammar, y'all weren't doing it just to annoy me or to change me, y'all were trying to help me so that maybe I would be included and not some annoying little newbie. I've considered leaving the site for good a lot lately because I know that so many people consider me _still_ just an annoying newbie. They don't know how much I want to thank them for helping me because I have grown. I'm not that same iggnorant, bull-headed girl I was when I first came to the site. I thought I knew everything. And when I discovered I still had more to learn, I refused y'alls help, but y'all didn't give up on me. Y'all still haven't. I used to never correct myself, thought it wasn't neccasary. But now, even as I type this, I'm capitalizing letters, adding punctuation marks, and correcting spelling . I realize how important it is and people pay attention to what you have to say more when you use propper grammar than when you use bad grammar. I haven't had very many experiences in the Young Wizards site because I haven't been there enough to make them, but I will say this: I have lost close friends and gained even closer ones. I have been in (and started) many fights and gained a few enemies. I have learned from my mistakes and others, and I would not be the same young lady I am today if it wasn't for y'alls patience with me. Remember when I called myself "wise"? Now, I can't help but look back and laugh at myself. I wasn't wise. I was sooo stupid. And I'm sorry for all the times I misunderstood when y'all were only trying to help me.
Thanks
W.I.T.

[Cress]

I think I've been here a lot longer than most other people. I haven't always been a regular. I've never posted on a daily basis, and some people who are a lot newer than I am have a lot more posts than I do.
Yet I find that no matter how long I leave for, I always come back. I have been on hiatus from YW for maybe 6 months at a time, and when I came back there were so many new faces that people didn't realize I wasn't a newb. Yet no matter how you come to it, the people are always accepting. They don't have an attitude of suspicion, they are naturally trusting because all they wanted was to be accepted.
While I'm not usually involved in the chat drama, and I don't have very many close friends from here, I still feel like I can talk to you guys, and I still feel like I'm a part of everything. I can join in at any point I want, and everyone would just nod and welcome me in. I've talked to people about things that are really important to me. I've had advice about boyfriends and friendships.
But mostly what keeps me coming back is that I don't have to work to be myself here. I can just let my fingers type whatever pops into my head and no one will get annoyed, no one will yell. They just accept it. Even with my funfuns...somewhere else I probably would have been banned for those. Here I just got a talking to and I'm here at least a year later.
Something about the way we can discuss things without trying to beat the other person over the head with our ideas is also appealing too...

[Kessa Cirtos]

I hope you lot don't mind that you've captured the intrigue of a Newbie. Yes, me. I haven't hit the ONE-WEEK challenge, the first week that either makes or breaks a Newbie. I would know about this because in so many ways I have been a Newbie and it's very difficult going through it all again.

I had a family much like this not long ago, I had them for about five years, all of us creating our own world, each of us consoling each other and pursuing our drama with solutions from halfway across the continent and even the world (London and Moscow to be specific). I carried on a relationship with a man I found to love so much and have had to break it off. We fought, I've said some dumb things, but all in all, the group always forgave everyone and we are excited about the actual author's first printing of Her Written Word. Heh.

When I first came onto the chat, I know that I didn't seem so new to this (except maybe to Eric who had to reteach me the bit about "/me" - but without the quotation marks. Lol) but it's because I've been there. I have been an orphan for almost a year and it is unbearable. I found something of a social life in college and those I was with for so long on the Internet slowly lost their Internet (moving and financial issues).

I seek desperately to be adopted once more into a group of close-knit peers and more than once I thought I had found that home with the comfortable fireplace. But once I dropped into the chat, being given a new name ("Cissa"), much to my consternation and was told that I was a "very good" Newbie, I didn't realize how long it'd been since I'd had a family.

I have a family IRL, but it's hard for me with them. We are always so split (except for dinner), my step-father is a firefighter/paramedic/SWAT/police officer and I'm afriad he'll end up on the wrong side of the gun only without his shield. He's fallen through floors before and broken bones. My mother is the same only she's turned into a training officer of some sort, inspecting businesses and she's slightly more safe except on the occasional SWAT call. My younger sister is failing high school and my baby sister is being taught to be a snob and bratty little thing and no longer the sweet girl I remember on account of being given everything.

I miss all of my families and being welcomed within seconds was something of a revelation I hadn't had in quite a while.

I know it's the going joke that the chat is all about drama, but if drama means having people to talk to and those who will listen, then I'm all for the drama of life. People who aren't close talk about subjects that are safe (the books for instance, which was how I came to find this place because I was in much want for that talk) and not themselves. That you guys could rag on each other and laugh meant it all the more for me, the not so new Newbie who's new to you guys, but hopefully not for long.

I'll see you guys around, undoubtedly. This is quickly becoming my favorite haunt.

**Edited on account of a typo err that would've dubbed me as Uber-Newb should I have kept it here. Lawl.

[Elder Math]

So...

I'm not a forum guy normally....less of a chatter really, most of the time I feel i'm taken wrong if I can't be face to face, so even the phone has never been all that different for me.

So why do I hang out around here. Hmmm. I dunno.

I think it's that I actually already have a huge amount of respect for the thoughts and feelings of many of the members here. I don't always respect what I read online, so that is a big part of it. However, I do forums in maybe 1 or 2 other places for that reason, and I don't really do a good job of hanging out there.

I guess the big thing is for this being a forum on Children's Books(yeah, sorry, I have trouble considering YW just a group of children's books) it really has some of the most intriguing discussions i've seen on any forum. The people don't want to be faceless either. Real names, and faces for the pictures seem a bit more important here, and that is awesome.

I think i'll hang out a bit longer, and maybe be a regular sooner or later. If I ever annoy you, or **** you off, tell me. I have a tendency to take stands, and sometimes it's my mood, but as soon as might realize it, I try to stop.

Anyway, I thought I'd post this here as i'm still a newbie...hope it's been revealing although I don't think i'm that hard to find out.